Open carry backers seek traction in Legislature

AUSTIN — Their flags said “Come and Take It.” Their red shirts and backpacks made their purpose clear: “More gun rights for Texas.” But their holsters were empty.

The move was symbolic, said Open Carry Texas founder CJ Grisham, who encouraged his members gathered for a rally at the Capitol on Monday to leave their guns at home.

“It’s an homage to the fact that if I put a firearm that I legally own in this holster and somebody can see it, I’m magically a criminal. But if I put a thin piece of fabric over that firearm, I’m not a criminal,” Grisham said. “We wanted to make a statement without really causing controversy.”

In Texas, it’s legal to openly carry a long gun such as a rifle or AR-15 but illegal to openly tote handguns, a ban that’s been in place for more than 125 years. Texans who pass a background check, take a class and pay a fee can be licensed to carry concealed handguns under current law.

Grisham’s group and a handful of other similar organizations are lobbying the state to change all that this session by passing legislation to allow unlicensed, open carry of handguns in the Lone Star State.

There also are bills to legalize open carry with a license, as well as expand the locations at which concealed handgun license holders can carry.

Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, is the author of House Bill 195, which seeks to legalize unlicensed carry in Texas. At Monday’s rally, he joined the roughly 75 activists gathered on the Capitol steps in calling for more permissive gun laws in Texas.

“Show of hands: How many of y’all are sick and tired of getting on your knees and begging the government for permission to use your God-given right to defend yourself? That is exactly why I filed HB195,” Stickland told the crowd.

He said even if his bill is defeated, he will attach an open carry amendment to anything “that smells like a gun bill, looks like a gun bill, or anything else.”

“I was given an award for saving the lives of nine people that day. But, ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you those nine lives should have been protected with their constitutional right to carry,” Ray said.

Grisham started the group, which boasts more than 18,000 “likes” on Facebook, in 2013, after he was arrested for refusing to hand over the AR-15 he was carrying to a law enforcement officer while on a hike with his son in Temple. He was charged and convicted of interfering with the duties of a Temple police officer and since has appealed that ruling. A decision is pending.